A (somewhat surprising) 6-3, 6-3 win for Filip over 33 year old Serra. Nice to see. Only dropped one break point and had great numbers on his first serve. Didn't see any of the match, only the live score numbers. Gets a break in the second round as well with Mathieu retiring vs. 22 year old Juan Lizariturry of Spain. 6 ATP points on the line for the two young guys when they meet tomorrow.
Beating Serra on clay is not all that impressive, but still lost to him badly earlier this year and Peliwo is not the greatest on clay himself (I think?)
Crivoi an interesting matchup. Has been in top 100 but now much lower. Experienced player though and another good test for Filip.
Filip was actually up a break at 3-0 in the first set and lost it, whoever went up a break in that match ended up losing the set. Battle of comeback kids. Looking forward to tomorrow, hoping there is some streaming option but not holding my breath
Big win Filip 6-1, 6-4 over Crivoi! Did not face a break point until 5-4 in second set, saved both to hang on to it. Possible main draw match ups are Volandri, Delbonis or another qualifier (which includes Gilles Simon if he finishes off his match right now)
With his win today, his ranking should be approximately 227. This now places Filip into French Open and Wimbledon qualies contention (the last two years' cut off was 245 or so).
Volandri's awful start to the year continues. Still a very positive win for Filip, Volandri may only have one win this year, but he has also only played one clay tourney prior to Casablanca (where he got that one win). Anytime a 20 year old can beat a primarily clay court player on his favourite surface its a great thing for confidence going forward. Good springboard for Peliwo headed into more clay events.
Volandri had played 4 clay court events this season. Vina del Mar, Buenos Aires, Rio, and Sao Paulo. His 1 win came in Buenos Aires against a younger player(good prospect though) ranked in the 400's.
Surprising week, knew he had to start improving those results eventually, didn't expect that to happen in a clay court ATP event, must be all that training in Spain
Peliwo had a set point serving at 5-4 in the second set. Del Bonis dropped the ball short and Peliwo had so much time, all he had to do was hit the court but put it probably a foot long when del Bonis had given up. He looks nervous on important points, double faulting when serving for games, missing a lot of 2nd serve returns.
I'm not sure what his DF count is, it might be high it might not be, but they're coming at the worst possible times. Two double faults to get broken at 4-4 in the third, and now del Bonis has a chance to serve it out.
Saved his first match-point pretty emphatically with a huge forehand winner, then fails to get either of the next two returns into play. Nerves definitely played a huge part in this defeat, still a good showing.
Definitely nerves took control of this result. First round there was little pressure; this was different. Not only did he probably start to believe he can get further in the tournament, but also first match of the tournament with TV coverage / center court.
Had a chance to watch sets 2 and 3 of Peliwo's match today. Came away very impressed. He moves up to take the ball early (or at least did today). He put more pressure on Delbonis than Delbonis put on him. Filip just needs to add mph to his serve to get through service games a little easier and he'll start to make more noise. Excited for his next tournament.
With his size, 5'11" I believe, I am not sure if he can add a lot more mph in his serve. I think it's better for him to have better placements in his first serve and keeps a higher percentage. And of course, cut down on double faults.
He showed a lot of mental strength today, but some of the opposite at bad moments too. Lifting the hat up, slumping, etc when he missed important points. Not the kind of emotion I feel he should be dipping into at moments like that, or showing to his opponent. ..Winner is as winner does. ..Maybe Galo can help him there.
Though this is not to take away from all the pluses today. He fought hard. Better than I anticipated, actually, and he came close to winning.
I don't think he is going to Sarasota; he is back in Barcelona.
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